Manila: Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s decision to exclude online gambling and other controversial topics from his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) should not be seen as a missed opportunity. 'Minabuti ng Pangulo na tutukan lamang 'yung social services. 'Yun ang tila tema ng kanyang talumpati (The President chose to focus solely on social services. That seemed to be the theme of his speech)," Escudero said during a press briefing.

According to Philippines News Agency, Escudero explained that with so many legislators pushing different advocacies, it would be unrealistic to expect the President to address all of them in one sitting. He questioned if the public would prefer a lengthy three-hour address and mentioned that future opportunities would arise for the President to discuss other issues. Escudero emphasized that the President's choice to focus the SONA prevents it from becoming a 'chopsuey' of unrelated topics.

On the legislative side, Escudero clarified that he is not an author of any bills seeking to ban online gambling. However, he noted that the matter is expected to be discussed in their upcoming caucus. He stated that it is up to the authors of such bills to push the proposal forward.

Escudero also noted that any move to include the proposed ban among priority measures would require consensus from the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), which includes representatives from the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Executive branch. He committed that if the Senate decides to prioritize the proposal, the LEDAC members would advocate for it as a priority measure.